I took the scenic path to becoming a PT. I started my journey by graduating from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics in 2005. I then left for Japan where I worked with a Japanese potter, then later taught conversational English. In 2009 I moved from Japan to Costa Rica where I worked on two different sea turtle research and conservation projects. In 2010 I came back to the US to go back to school. I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, then earned my Doctor in Physical Therapy in 2018 from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences center in 2018. I am passionate about making sure older adults keep living the lives they want- just because someone is aging, doesn’t mean life needs to stop. I also have an intense interest in vestibular and balance issues, and stroke recovery.
My hobby is collecting hobbies. Current hobbies include weaving, hiking, driving, scentwork with my overly exuberant shepherd, and exploring the world around me.
Kylie Volk’s amazing journey to LifeMotion
Kylie took a scenic path to becoming a Physical Therapist and joining the LifeMotion team, a journey that took her from Arizona to Japan and Costa Rica before she found her way to Tulsa.
“Travel has always been just something that I’ve kind of wanted to do,” Kylie says. “I started my journey by graduating from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics in 2005.”
She left there for Japan to work with a Japanese potter, then later taught conversational English.
“Before I left Japan, I decided that I wanted to go on a backpacking trip from the southern island back up to Tokyo,
Kylie says. “My mom decided that I was going to die if I did it by myself. Since my dad had always been a cyclist, she decided that he should come with me.”
It was somewhere along that 600-mile backpacking-cycling trip her dad turned 65.
“We did a lot of moving, cycling, hiking, all sorts of fun stuff,” Kylie says. “I think that was one of the reasons I was interested in geriatrics—just because somebody’s getting older doesn’t mean that they have to stop doing things.”
After that, in 2009, Kylie moved to Costa Rica to work on two different sea turtle research and conservation projects. She then returned to the US and school in 2010. Kylie graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, then earned her Doctor in Physical Therapy in 2018 from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
“I was initially thinking of going into conservation genetics,” Kylie says. “But there’s not really a lot of human interaction. You’re by yourself in a lab doing things. And I liked being around people.”
After graduating, she moved back to Tulsa. While staying with her parents, Kylie’s dad had surgery on his ankle, and she was the one taking him back and forth to all of his physical therapy appointments.
“While we were there, watching him go through it, it was something that was interesting that I thought that I would enjoy doing,” Kylie says. “ I did a whole bunch of shadowing. I liked it.”
It was during that time shadowing physical therapists Kylie saw the difference physical therapy makes.
“One of my mom’s friends had the same surgery done at about the same time as my dad did,” Kylie says. “Dad would do physical therapy. And then my mom’s friend didn’t do any PT— and it was watching this perfectly fine recovery to normal life for my dad versus a kind of atrocious downward spiral.”
“I am passionate about making sure older adults keep living the lives they want,” Kylie says. “Just because someone is aging doesn’t mean life needs to stop.”
That made LifeMotion’s Balance Center especially attractive to her.
“With inpatient rehab, you normally see somebody for maybe two weeks, three weeks before they go home,” Kylie says. “I wanted to see what it was like getting somebody from once they get out of the hospital back to life as normal, helping people get the rest of the way on their journey back to where they wanted to be and back to living life.”
That’s exactly what she found at LifeMotion.
“It is a great group of therapists to work with, and it’s been a very fun and dynamic set of clientele that has come in,” Kylie says. “I’ve been able to help some people getting more stable and more comfortable with living life and less afraid of moving in their environment again.”
Kylie also has an intense interest in vestibular and balance issues and stroke recovery.
“Holly and Taylor have both been phenomenal mentors, so helping me grow as a PT in that aspect,” Kylie says. “It’s been great helping people with balance issues that they’ve had to getting back to doing things that they should be doing and not being stuck in this kind of afraid and not wanting to move.”
Ever on the move herself, Kylie says her hobby is collecting hobbies. Her current hobbies include weaving, hiking, driving, scent work with my overly exuberant shepherd, and exploring the world around her. We’re delighted to welcome her to our world here at LifeMotion.
